With an eye on young customers, health- and beauty-care chain Watsons is refreshing its brand in its 12 markets.

To kick-start an awareness campaign, new uniforms have been introduced for its store teams. These were designed through a competition for students of the Institute of Textiles and Clothing at Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Watsons’ Asian marketing director for health and beauty Emily Wong says the brand refresh campaign aims to convey a sense of youth and vitality, and will include a refreshed online and offline shopping experience in the spirit of its tagline “Look good, feel great”.

Wong says that for the uniform design competition, students were offered the chance to speak with store team members in Watsons’ different markets about their preferences and opinions.

“As an international brand, our uniform fabrics and designs have to fit the needs of our teams in different regions. For instance, with the hot and humid weather in Hong Kong and other countries in Southeast Asia, the uniform fabrics should be thin and breathable.”

Competition winner Sharon Yeung says that when designing the uniform she paid meticulous attention to details.

“The design is suitable for daily tasks, such as stocking shelves, plus has a touch of fashion. For example, the store manager’s uniform has delicate, subtle details on the collar. The slim-fit design makes them look younger and more confident.”

Practical needs were also addressed. The beauty advisor’s uniform has a makeup bag for beauty accessories, while the health and fitness advisor uniform has a touch of lime green on the basic medical white colour.

Watsons more than 6000 stores – more than 1500 of them pharmacies – in 12 markets including China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and the Philippines.